Following  successful negotiations, Kern and Kodak have signed a significant partnership agreement;  Kern is now the exclusive UK distributor of Kodak's popular 1" and 2" inkjet heads and consumables which are used in multiple sectors from transactional and  DM through to food, pharma, mailsort and magazine publishing.   The agreement was confirmed in February 2011.
 
The two organisations have enjoyed a lengthy and fruitful relationship in the past and this development is testimony to the good fit between the two companies.  Kodak was seeking a strategic distribution partner with the infrastructure to provide sales and engineering sales support to customers such as TNT and other mailing houses.
 
Philip Gibbons, Kodak Cluster Commercial Director for UK, Ireland and the Nordics, says:  "Kern's extensive and mature service infrastructure means that Kodak customers will benefit instantly from access to real product understanding, great engineering support and a commitment to excellence."    Kern also has the secure facilities to store stock so that any customer demands can be fulfilled by same day courier if necessary.
 
Peter Jolley, General Manager of Kern UK Ltd, said:  "We have been working with Kodak successfully for many years and use their inkjet heads on our own equipment so we know and understand their reputation for quality and speed and we are proud to be able to offer their products in the UK."
 
The companies have collaborated successfully on a number of customer projects, such as Birmingham City Council.  The council purchased a Kern mailsort system utilizing Kodak inkjet print heads around 18 months ago with the aim of taking advantage of Royal Mail Condition 9 Agreement.  The NPI Vsort system has already saved the organization around £400,000 per annum.